UFC on FX 7: Bisping vs. Belfort Preview & Predictions

The UFC returns to FX on Saturday night with a fight card from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

The card has plenty of interesting match-ups, but the star power is reserved for the main event, where Michael Bisping will try to earn his first title shot after many years in the UFC by beating Vitor Belfort.

One local-flavor thing to pay attention to: Houston’s own Andrew Craig will try to move his UFC record to 3-0 against Ronny Markes.

Enough with the introduction; let’s get to the fights. I’m doing a bit of analysis on the main event, but the rest of the card will be predictions only.

MAIN CARD

Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping: Belfort is still a very dangerous man, as evidenced by his record since moving back to middleweight and by the fact that he’s a betting favorite in this fight. He can still finish any man alive in the first round, and you can be sure that he’s going to attack Michael Bisping from the outset.

But it’s what comes after that initial onslaught that dooms Belfort; he tends to gas quickly and essentially bows out of fights that he can’t finish early. Unfortunately for him, Michael Bisping has the gas tank to quickly wear Belfort out, and that’s exactly what he’ll do. Bisping is too quick for Belfort, and he’ll use that speed to continually cut angles and force Belfort to expend a ton of energy trying to attack. And when that initial attack fails, Bisping will use his vastly superior cardio and speed to outpoint Belfort on the way to a decision win and a date with Anderson Silva later this year.